diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
index 73f208466363..4a9ab2596e78 100644
--- a/net/core/skbuff.c
+++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
@@ -398,7 +398,11 @@ struct sk_buff *__netdev_alloc_skb(struct net_device *dev, unsigned int len,
 
 	len += NET_SKB_PAD;
 
-	if ((len > SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(PAGE_SIZE)) ||
+	/* If requested length is either too small or too big,
+	 * we use kmalloc() for skb->head allocation.
+	 */
+	if (len <= SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(1024) ||
+	    len > SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(PAGE_SIZE) ||
 	    (gfp_mask & (__GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM | GFP_DMA))) {
 		skb = __alloc_skb(len, gfp_mask, SKB_ALLOC_RX, NUMA_NO_NODE);
 		if (!skb)